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When I was in London over the summer, I picked up Rick Stein’s cookbook Long Weekends at a cookbook bookstore called Books for Cooks in Notting Hill. Yes, an entire bookshop dedicated to just cookbooks! Imagine walls covered in books stacked high from floor to ceiling and an open kitchen for testing out recipes so that they can recommend books honestly and personally. I swoon. It was heaven, indeed.

This is the first recipe I’ve tried from Long Weekends and I’m sharing it because it’s a keeper. It lived up to the expectations that my Dad had set after he came home raving about Rick Stein’s seafood dishes after staying at his Bed and Breakfast over the summer in Padstow. Trapanese Pesto is the Sicilian cousin of the classic basil pesto made with fresh cherry tomatoes and almonds and Rick Stein’s version is refreshing, effortless and tasty indeed. The best part is that while it shines a vibrant rich green on your dinner table, it really just involves you pressing your finger to start and stop the food processor. I know most good things take time, but I’m telling you, this one doesn’t one bit.